


New Year's Eve in Wayne Tower

by BlueAlmond



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study, Fluff, Internal Conflict, M/M, New Year's Eve, Self-Indulgent, Some Plot, The GCPD is kind of incompetent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 17:45:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17513075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueAlmond/pseuds/BlueAlmond
Summary: Bruce Wayne is expected to be seen celebrating in New Year’s Eve.





	New Year's Eve in Wayne Tower

**Author's Note:**

> Just a silly little thing I started writing while I waited for the fireworks, and decided to finish today. Enjoy!

Bruce Wayne is expected to be seen celebrating in New Year’s Eve, and there’s very little he can do about it. And some years that’s okay. Some years, villains take a break that night, they celebrate or do whatever it is that villains do when they’re not terrorizing the city, and Batman isn’t needed. Some years, he even got to sleep late on January first.

Some years, but not that one.

No, that one he heard as soon as eight pm, while most guests were still conglomerating in the underground parking lot of Wayne Tower, that there were disturbances all around the city. And disturbances in Gotham weren’t the same as disturbances elsewhere. Disturbances in Gotham were the kind of shit the cops could still, but barely, handle. Disturbances were big robberies with bomb threats or, well, any kind of threat, really. They became a situation when any of those threats were confirmed, or it involved important people for hostages. When it was just a bunch of kids breaking stuff or making trouble, it was only referred as, well, a normal night. Some of them would run the minute they saw the symbol on the sky. Others would be making scandal _just_ so they could see Batman, but usually those fanboys did it on the weekends, or more boring holidays. In New Year’s Eve, those kids went out for drinks. A lot of people went out for drinks. Almost everyone, actually, and that included some cops that were supposed to be working, but Bruce Wayne was expected to make the night interesting for the dozens of reporters on Wayne Tower, waiting for the fireworks. They had stopped throwing fireworks on the docks years ago because villains tended to rob the show. On Wayne Tower, they never did.

The Joker had done it once, when he’d been just making a name for himself, and it had been tricky getting to the suit, but he managed. After that, and many other events with similar outcomes, rumors said that Bruce Wayne had Batman on his payroll, and he hired him as security for that sort of thing. Thus, it was very rare for villains to disrupt his parties unless there was something in particular worth the try of surpassing Batman in a terrain he not only clearly knew by heart, but was also already there, waiting for them.

However, just because Wayne Tower was mostly safe on New Year’s Eve didn’t mean that the rest of town was as well. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Villains started expecting him to be in that part of town, apparently, because they showed up at the docks, quite at ease and calm, knowing the bat wouldn’t get there in time to stop them.

And Bruce hated that they were right. By the time he was aware of what the Riddler was planning, there was no way he would make it there in time, not even if he took the Batwing, which he couldn’t because he’d have to wait for the thing to get there on autopilot from the cave. The one vehicle he had in the building was the Batcycle, and there was no way he could make it to the docks in the twenty minutes Nygma had given him to solve his riddle.

He had to go, but he was trapped in his own building, surrounded by hundreds of people that constantly threatened with boring and frustrating him to death, while innocent people suffered the consequences of his secret, of having the perfect cover that demanded frequent public performances that stole Batman from the people who desperately needed him.

But it wasn’t just his secret. The cowl existed so the people he loved wouldn’t be in unnecessary danger because of their connection to him. It might have been selfish, putting those he cared about over everybody else, but right then wasn’t the time to change his mind. He was too far, anyway. He couldn’t make it. He just hoped the police could handle some of it, maybe evacuate the zone. There were some smart detectives in the force. Perhaps one of them could solve it.

The ticking of the clock seemed to be getting louder every second though, and there weren’t any reports saying the situation was settled. It took thirteen minutes, thirteen excruciating minutes before he could finally breathe a little easier, before another hero stepped in and resolved it. Admittedly, he was surprised that he had taken the time to answer all of Nygma’s questions before taking him down. He would thank him for that later.

“Everything was taken care of, Mr. Wayne,” said Superman later with his patented smile. He had flown by Wayne Tower on his way out, once the police had taken the Riddler to Arkham. Then, his expression softened, and he added in a whisper: “You can relax. Enjoy the party. Have a drink. I’ll watch over your city tonight, B.”

One edge of his lips curled slightly upwards. Bruce never drank, and Superman knew it. He never risked it. “Thank you,” he muttered anyway, sincerely. Superman surely knew what he was actually thanking him for.

“You can thank me later.” The gleam in his eyes made perfectly clear that he was thinking of a way or two to say thanks, which didn’t involve any words. “I’ll come by, if you’ll have me.”

“You know I will. My balcony is always open. Now go, or else the mayor will ask you to stay.”

“I won’t wish you a happy New Year just yet,” he winked, “they say it’s bad luck.”

Bruce tilted his head to one side and frowned. “Who says that?”

Superman didn’t answer, he just flew away. But that was okay. Bruce would ask him all about it later that night, tangled around each other, the Kryptonian would have nowhere to run. Although he figured he wouldn’t have any intention to run, either. He was usually very reluctant to leave his bed.

Some years, villains take a break that night, they celebrate or do whatever it is that villains do when they’re not terrorizing the city, and Batman isn’t needed. Some years, he even got to sleep late on January first. And some years, some years Batman has a little help and takes the night off. Of course, nobody knows what Batman does when he’s not chasing criminals, but there are rumors and there are bets all over the internet. Some people say he probably sleeps. Other say he ought to have a secret identity, maybe a family. And then there are others who say he probably gets laid.

And, ridiculous as it may sound, they were all right.


End file.
